the inner journey.

"This moment is the moment of reality, of union, of truth.
Nothing needs to be done to it or to you for this to be so.
Nothing needs to be avoided, transcended, or found for it to be so."

-- Da Avabhasa

Creativity, connection, soul, inspiration and intuition are available only in the present moment for the present moment.
We choose how actively we take part in the cosmic dance of life.
We can become wallflowers, mere spectators to life, if we get trapped in the patterns and habits of the past.
Or we can choose to dance by being present and open to the energies, the opportunities and the guidance available to us each moment.
"Each today, well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look, therefore, to this one day, for it and it alone is life."

-- Sanskrit poem

"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."

"Your life has to do with the agenda that has been set for you by you, by that part of you that we’ve come to call, in our language, your soul."

-- Neale Donald Walsch

Our purpose in life has a spiritual foundation.
Our MAJOR LIFE ISSUES are usually of 3 types:
- physical and POWER-ORIENTED, like making our stand and being more courageous.
- emotional and LOVE-ORIENTED, like expressing and receiving love, compassion and nurturing others.
- mental and INTELLECT-ORIENTED, like developing our minds and creating new things and processes.
"Our prayers are answered not when we are given what we ask, but when we are challenged to be what we can be."

"If we fail to nourish our souls, they wither, and without soul, life ceases to have meaning....
The creative process shrivels in the absence of continual dialogue with the soul. And creativity is what makes life worth living."

-- Marion Woodman

Stress, fear, negativity, too much to do and doing things for others at the expense of our own needs -- these all stifle our innate creativity.
Relaxation, fun, meditation, and going after our dreams all get the creative juices flowing.
Soul is always creative, always fresh and new.
How can you create more space in your life to allow the soul’s energy out to play?
"I learned... that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic, striving, but it comes to us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness."

-- Brenda Ueland

"I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of quiet life stimulates the creative mind."

Our ego focuses on how we are different from the rest of the world.
Our soul lives when we experience how we are the same.
Any time you separate yourself from other people or from situations, you know your personality is in control.
At such times, shift your perspective to build connection and you will move into soul.
As our picture of life becomes larger, more things make sense and we have a greater playing field for life to unfold - naturally.
"As a holistic being you shatter the illusion of your separateness and reveal your connection to everything.
This empowers you in a way that the ego-driven self could never contemplate."

"If you had a friend who talked to you like you sometimes talk to yourself, would you continue to hang around with that person?"

-- Rob Bremer

Thanks to the power of our inner critics, most of us have a very poor opinion of ourselves.
Yet self-contempt merely keeps us miserable and stuck in our mediocrity.
If we were to make only one change to transform the quality of our lives, we might try sending a little love our own way.
"A critic is a legless man who teaches running."

-- Channing Pollock

"Unkind criticism is never part of a meaningful critique of you.
Its purpose is not to teach or to help, its purpose is to punish."

-- Barbara Sher

"You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."

"We don't always know what makes us happy.
We know, instead, what we think SHOULD.
We are baffled and confused when our attempts at happiness fail...
We are mute when it comes to naming accurately our own preferences, delights, gifts, talents.
The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people's expectations.
The tongue of the original self is the language of the heart."

-- Julia Cameron

We are each unique beings with a unique path in life.
If we wish to be fulfilled, we need to go to our own hearts for direction.
We might regularly ask ourselves:

- "What do I really want to do?"

- "What brings me greatest happiness?"

- "How can I bring more of these into my life?"

Life wants us to go for what brings us most joy and meaning.
"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. ...
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing."